Object Number 1972.0131

Object Name

Coin (Dollar)

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Miss Marion E. Wilson

Creator (Role)

United States Mint (Manufacturer)
1792
The Mint was established by the U.S. Congress in 1792 with The Coinage Act. David Rittenhouse was appointed the first director by President George Washington and the Mint was erected in Philadelphia.

George Thomas Morgan (Designer and maker)
1845-1925

Place of Origin

Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1885

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Obverse, base of profile bust; "M" incuse
2. Mark; Reverse, in bowknot; "M" incuse
3. Inscription; Obverse; "E PLURIBUS UNUM", "LIBERTY", and "1885" in low relief
4. Inscription; Reverse; "UNITED STATES AMERICA* ONE DOLLAR" and "In God we trust" in low relief

Subjects

Currency; Liberty; Great Seal of US; Eagle

Materials

Silver

Techniques

Struck

Dimensions (inches)

0.118 (H) , 1.496 (Diam) , 0.9171 (Weight)

Dimensions (centimeters)

0.3 (H) , 3.8 (Diam) , 26 (Weight)

Object Description

Web - 08/09/2019

This silver dollar coin is known as the Morgan dollar after its designer and engraver, George Thomas Morgan. He was recruited from London to work with the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and soon challenged with redesigning the image of Liberty for coinage. Morgan studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), where examples of his medallic work are in the collection. Through PAFA, Morgan met artist Thomas Eakins who introduced him to a local educator Anna Willess Williams (1857-1926). Ms. Williams became the model for the Goddess of Liberty image on the obverse. A front page article called "A Face We Often See" written by Alice Graham McCollin for The Ladies' Home Journal [1892, vol. ix, no. 8] comments that Williams sat for Morgan in Eakins's home in 1876. Ms. Williams is recorded as being reluctant for any renown, and lived modestly as a teacher in Philadelphia.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Article] McCollin, Alice Graham. 1892 A Face We Often See. 1.
• Portrait and biography, p. 1.